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Saturday, February 27, 2016

The following are another series of letters to The Age and
to the Herald Sun ; addressing topics as diverse as the US Presidential
election; to Richard Denniss on economic reform; a response to Peter Costello on ‘small
government’; on the threat of ‘elder
abuse’ by government; and the case
against austerity!Unfortunately the
clear majority were not published.

Dr Tristan Ewins

Richard Denniss on Economic Reform

Richard Denniss
(‘The Age’, 15/2) makes a compelling argument regarding the real nature of the
social choices we need to make, and the social priorities we need to set.Are lower corporate and personal income tax
rates, as well as other concessions and subsidies for the well-off really a
greater priority than quality, accessible state education ; a fair welfare
system which is sustainable for those depending
on it; social insurance for the disabled and the aged ; and comprehensive
public health which is truly responsive to human need?Peter Martin (15/2) makes the point that the
top 10% consider themselves ‘battlers’, whereas in fact they are amidst the
truly wealthy and the upper middle class. We cannot afford social services,
welfare, social insurance and public infrastructure without a genuinely
progressive tax mix.And we must not be
scared to put the arguments for redistribution and higher social spending –
without which the minimum human and social needs of a great many Australians
would not be met.This election the
progressive parties should be aiming to increase social expenditure by at least
2.5% of GDP (or $40 billion in a $1.6 Trillion economy) rather than parrot
conservative mantras on ‘cutting expenditure’.

Responding to Peter Costello on 'Small Government'

Peter Costello (Herald-Sun 16/2) argues “spending, not tax, is our biggest problem”.Yet Australia’s public spending is low by
OECD comparisons. The problem is that ‘small government’ imposes a ‘false
economy’.Some social needs are
non-negotiable.Health, Education, Aged
Care, pensions for the vulnerable and for those who have earned it through a
lifetime of work.Crucially: In these
fields ‘collective consumption’ via tax actually gives us a better deal as
taxpayers than we would receive as private consumers.To illustrate – in their book “Governomics- Can We Afford Small Government?’ Miriam
Lyons and Ian McAuley argue that whereas ‘high taxing’ and ‘high spending’ Nordic
countries “contain health costs to 9 per cent of GDP”, in the US the figure is
18% despite only 40% coverage.Australia’s Medicare is somewhere in the middle: It is an effective
universal coverage scheme – but neglect and under-funding leave us ahead of the
US but behind the Nordics.So even with
progressive tax and higher social expenditure these policies can
actually get costs down as a proportion of GDP, and in the process free
up a greater portion of the economy for ‘negotiable’ needs (eg: entertainment,
holidays) which improve our quality of life.

Continuing the Argument against 'small government'

Conservatives are arguing Turnbull must “slash government spending”.But where would that come from?The unemployed live in such poverty it interferes with their ability to seek work. The Disabled already experience poverty through no fault of their own.Student poverty forces mainly young people to seek out work that actually prevents them from getting the most out of their study.The Aged are forced to sell their houses to access sub-standard Aged Care even when they are from a working-class background.Waiting lists are spiralling out of control in public health ; and we have the threat of a permanently two-tiered Education system which disadvantages those unable to afford private schooling.Mental health is neglected and many mentally-ill can expect to die 25 years younger on average.There is insufficient public money for infrastructure and privatisation passes on added costs that hurt the broader economy.Public housing could increase demand and make housing affordable for more families.So in fact more public money is needed – not less.AND the deficit must be brought under control as well.Only PROGRESSIVE tax reform (not the GST) can tackle all these crises fairly.Cutting savagely is not the answer.

Meanwhile on Elder Abuse by the Federal Government!:

Christine Long (‘the Age’ 24/2/16) provides an exposition on elder abuse,
usually at the hands of relatives.Yet
the worst elder abuse and negligence comes as a consequence of the actions (and
otherwise negligence) of the Federal Government. Nursing homes lack staff to resident ratios,
and what is more there is no provision for a registered nurse on the premises
24/7.Indeed nursing homes are often
akin to ‘warehouses for old people’. There is little or no mental stimulation
or diversity in environment.Lack of
staff means residents do not always eat, and some are left in their own excrement
for protracted periods for the same reason.What is more, onerous user-pays mechanisms are forced upon working class
families who may have struggled their entire lives to afford a home.User pays aged care is akin to regressive tax
– but much worse even than the GST.For
quality of life in old age other reforms are also necessary.A significant increase in the Aged
Pension.Free public transport. Taxi vouchers, and social gatherings to cater
for all interests.Programs to combat
loneliness and the likelihood of suicide.A National Aged Care Insurance Scheme would be a great place to start.

Responding on the US Presidential Campaign: Bernie Sanders' Prospects

Rita Panahi(Herald-Sun, 15/2) decries US
Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders as “An ageing socialist who wants to
raise existing taxes and introduce a bunch of new ones.”The unspoken assumptions, here, are that
small government is un-contestable, and redistribution unthinkable.The Herald-Sun (15/2) was also concerned that
what are probably the top 10 per cent of families live ‘pay-check to pay-check’
on $200,000 a year and more to maintain their lifestyles.But according
to the ABSthe
average pre-tax individual wage in November 2013 was $57,980. And many truly
battled on close-to-minimum wage: cleaners, skilled child-care workers, aged
care workers, retail, hospitality and tourism workers.In 2015 the minimum full-time wage was barely
$650/week. So redistribution
is fair for many reasons.Arguably
everyone should have minimum rights to social inclusion, shelter, nutrition,
education, and health care. Best
provided through the social wage, social insurance and various social services
which demand progressive tax as ‘the price we pay for civilization’.But pay is also based on ‘demand and supply’
in the labour market, and some workers’ industrial strength. Those mechanisms
do not guarantee fairness.You don’t get
fairness and human decency without redistribution including services, welfare,
public infrastructure and progressive tax.

Meanwhile:

Julie Szego (‘The Age’ 25/2) infers that women supporting
Bernie Sanders in the US Presidential Election is not the ‘feminist choice’.Underlying this is the assumption that identity
is privileged over broader outcomes and over ideology . But if Sanders
succeeded in winning free universal health care women would stand to gain as
women – exactly because women are otherwise disadvantaged financially due to
the exploitation of feminised professions, and due to women’s interrupted
working lives.Secondly, if Sanders
raised the minimum wage this also would help the most exploited women in those
same feminised professions.Whereas
Hilary Clinton can be seen as supporting a ‘liberal feminist agenda’ Sanders
agenda ought appeal to ‘socialist feminists’ concerned also with class, and with the
inequalities even between women themselves.In this context it would not be
‘a betrayal of feminism’ to support Sanders.Modern progressive politics needs to be based on reciprocal solidarity between
human beings against oppression, exploitation, subordination and domination. Here gender does not ‘trump’ other issues any
more than those issues (eg: class) ‘trump’ gender. The agenda is for us all ‘to see the struggle through to the
end’ with nothing less than ‘full human liberation’ as the aim.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Above: South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill has Upset an Awful Lot of People in the ALP with his Position on the GST!

Dr Tristan Ewins

Comrades and others; The following are a series of letters I've written over the past couple of weeks - in the hope of being published in The Age, The Herald-Sun, The Saturday Paper... I'm hoping by republishing them here I can spur further debate. Topics covered include 'How Federal Labor Must Respond to Jay Weatherrill on the GST', 'Privatisation Now and Then', 'the Holocaust and Cold War Atrocities - Never Forget', 'Why Isn't Shorten Cutting Through?', 'Infrastructure and Population'. Most of the letters were never published debate here could help make up for that I think! :-)

Privatisation Doesn't Make Sense - Never did make Sense!

The Herald-Sun (27/1) makes a point of the fact the Liberal NSW
Liberal Government will have $20 billion to spend following privatisation of
electricity.But it ignores the associated
cost of this privatisation.To pay for
private dividends and corporate salaries increased structural costs will be
passed on to consumers in full.Energy
will be more expensive – and that includes businesses as well as voters.Dividends from the energy sector will also be
lost to NSW voters – probably forever. To get a picture of this: The Commonwealth
Bank privatisation brought in about $7.8 billion (the total for the sale of the
entire business!!!)after being
privatised by the Keating Labor Government.But in 2015 the Commonwealth Bank registered a PROFIT (for only one year) of over $9
billion!Meanwhile the Federal
Government is having to pay Telstra several billions to access the very pits
and wires that were privatised under John Howard.How has any of this ever been in the public
interest?

Remember the Holocaust - and ALL other Atrocities - So they are never repeated

Dvir Abramovich (Herald-Sun 27/1)makes some crucial points about teaching
young people of the dangers of hatred and prejudice, as epitomised most
horrifically by the Holocaust, and the associated industrial scale murder and persecution
of Jews, Poles, Russians, Roma, the disabled, and political dissidents. (mainly
Leftists)Such a public education
program could be incorporated into a broader critical/active civics and
citizenship curriculum reform agenda.That is: reform the curriculum to empower all students to understand
their rights and interests; to commit politically on the basis of their
interests and acquired values; and to participate deeply in a truly and
meaningfully pluralist democracy.He
also mentions Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and others.But one aspect that he neglected (unintentionally I believe) was the record of atrocities on the ‘anti-Communist’ side
during the Cold War.Over half a million leftists and trade
unionists were murdered in Indonesia in 1965-66. And genocidal attacks during
Guatemala’s civil war claimed between 200,000 and 300,000. As well as political
mass murders in El Salvador, Nicaragua and elsewhere. Truly we must remember
ALL of history’s shameful passages that we do not repeat them.And that includes those committed ostensibly
by ‘our side’.

Why Isn't Shorten 'Cutting Through'? And how can he change this?

Mark Kenny (28/1) argues Bill Shorten has failed to cut
through since the elevation of Malcolm Turnbull as PM.Yet the Liberal Party stands on the verge of
another bout of bitter austerity: of the proportions which brought former
Treasurer, Joe Hockey , undone.For too
long Labor has pinned its fortunes mainly to ‘socially liberal’ issues like
Equal Marriage: neglecting robust social and distributive justice
policies.Hence the ‘socially liberal’ but
‘economically neo-liberal’ Turnbull has capitalised on the prevalent discourse.Labor needs to change the prevalent discourse
– and quick.Labor’s strong endorsement
of Gonski –$3 billion on average a year
- may show that Labor strategists are starting to learn their lesson. Other
options could include more robust reform of superannuation concessions for the
well off.Superannuation concessions may
cost taxpayers $50 billion/year by 2019, and Labor should be able to shave $20
billion of that from the well-off. Other areas of tax reform could include no
further Company Tax cuts; gradually rescind Dividend Imputation; index the
bottom two income tax brackets for fairness.That could pay for a National Aged Care Social Insurance Scheme, reform
of pensions and more, while improving Labor’s economic credentials, reining in
the deficit.

The Infrastructure Crisis and Population: A Response to a Herald-Sun Reader

Nola Martin (Herald-Sun, 1/2) blames the transport
infrastructure crisis – crowded trains – on overpopulation. Increased
population has good and bad consequences.On one side we will run into difficulty if schools, hospitals, roads,
public transport – fail to keep up with population.On the other hand higher population creates
‘economies of scale’ in the public service, defence and other areas. (ie: we
can get away with paying proportionately less there)But the real problem is that public
investment in infrastructure and services – like roads – is not ‘keeping up’ on
account of ‘corporate welfare’ and subsidies for the well-off.Company Tax cuts mean corporations aren’t
paying for the infrastructure they benefit from.And superannuation concessions for the
well-off might cost taxpayers $50 billion by 2019 according to Richard Denniss
of the Australia Institute.When there’s
not enough public money for infrastructure like roads this also leads to
privatisation.The problem here is since
the private sector cannot borrow as cheaply as the public sector, and must pay
dividends to shareholders,the increased
‘cost structures’ are passed on – hurting the entire economy.But as the Federal Election approaches
Malcolm Turnbull is considering more tax cuts. (eg: Company Tax)When will we learn our lesson?

SA Premier Jay Weatherill and the Debate on the GST; And the 'Revenue Problem' for Health and Education

Regarding his discussion of raising the GST; On the positive
side at least South Australian Labor Premier Jay Weatherill IS saying there’s a
revenue problem we have and not a spending problem. It’s good to actually
confront that issue - and to prioritise health and education. The problem is
that he's undermining Shorten on the GST – which could be crucial in the coming
election. The best reply Shorten can come up with is promising to address BOTH
the revenue problem and the Health crisis - including Aged Care. There are a
host of possible measures. Hit superannuation concessions. Gradually rescind
dividend imputation. Reform capital gains tax concessions. Rescind negative
gearing. Restructure and increase the Medicare Levy. DON'T cut Company
Tax.Shorten has options! Outlining
those options NOW - AS OPPOSED TO THE GST can answer Jay Weatherill's concerns
re: 'the revenue problem'.And we can
then enjoy serious reform of Education and Health including Aged Care - where
tens of billions new funding combined are necessary to make a serious
difference. In response to the answering of those concerns Weatherill will
probably then 'fall into line' on opposing the GST.

THE RED FLAG IS STILL FLYING HERE

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About Me

Tristan's areas of expertise include Australian and world politics, social theory, education, history, and computer gaming for PC. He considers himself a liberal, and also a socialist, but has also referred to himself as a left social democrat. He says such - conscious that there was once a time when 'social democracy' and 'socialism' were synonymous. Furthermore, Tristan is a long-time member of the Australian Labor Party - specifically its Socialist Left wing. He is also involved in the Australian Fabian Society. Tristan has written for many publications - including a stint freelancing for 'The Canberra Times': the daily broadsheet of the Australian Capital. Tristan's Personal Homepage is here: http://sites.google.com/site/tristanewinsfreelancewriter